The Middle East: Critical Choices for the United States

SEN. JAMES L. BUCKLEY

A decade ago, when Senator William Fulbright called for changes in the direction of American foreign policy, he summed up his proposals in the title of his book, Old Myths and New Realities. A decade earlier, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles warned of the need for an "agonizing reappraisal" in our international relations. In both cases, whatever their merits, the respective arguments were condensed to a slogan and, as a consequence, created more debate than deliberation.

In discussing American policy with regard to the Middle East, it is best to avoid using an oversimplified catch-phrase, no matter how quotable. I want to propose, not new directions in the conduct of our foreign affairs, but rather new emphasis, new priorities; indeed, perhaps nothing more than a new awareness of where we stand in that region and what may be the consequences of the various choices open to us in the future.

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